


The Space Between Your Fingers

by Gemichin



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Softness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 07:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11962968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemichin/pseuds/Gemichin
Summary: A feeling they didn't want to speak about. A feeling they couldn't ignore.





	The Space Between Your Fingers

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for my darling friend, [Yuu](https://twitter.com/Tale_Utopiaz), which I managed to finish on their birthday! Happy birthday Yuu, I love you very much!

The simplicity of the start was similar to breathing; the day that their eyes met had set off the hands of fate turning time within its hourglass. The two who fell into the glass container sank effortlessly beneath the sand that poured atop their heads. Sorey remembered the flutter he felt within his chest the moment that the door had opened to the classroom and the boy who was so similar to the moon walked in with grace unlike any he’d seen. Those amethyst eyes that glanced around the room, landing on him for just the briefest of moments that seemed to last an eternity, pierced straight through the brunet like an arrow. It seized his breath in his lungs, startling his spine to straighten in his seat. Perhaps for just a moment, he saw the boy smile in soft amusement, but it was gone before he could commit it to memory. It was in that moment that Sorey fell for a slim statured, smart mouthed boy of alabaster hair and amethyst eyes who introduced himself as Mikleo.

 

It’s in the days which follow that meld together like a melody, a song and dance shared between two boys who had such similar passions that anything they did together was so incredibly natural it was suffering. The debates during every bit of free downtime at school over the mutual interest in the history of the Celestial Record shifted to the documentaries that they watched on the weekends at either’s home. The distance so steadily decreased as months passed in tandem, the way they sat together with just the smallest bit of space effortlessly melted until their shoulders were touching, leaning over each other for comfort and warmth that wasn’t found in their group of friends.

 

It was often commented on, how close the two were, yet it was shrugged off so easily. Sorey wouldn’t have sacrificed their friendship for the fear of wondering if Mikleo didn’t return the suffocated affections that had been steadily building since the day their eyes met. He’d pray to every higher power that it wouldn’t reach a fever pitch, that his tongue wouldn’t slip. He kept himself in check at every moment, every jab to his best friend so it didn’t fall over the edge he was teetering on. A balancing act is what it was, the guilt of hiding something so important weighing on his shoulders, but he couldn’t release the tension and let that coil snap.

 

Mikleo was  _ beautiful _ , and it wasn’t only Sorey who noticed.

 

It was like clockwork, watching that ethereal figure he regarded so highly get tugged away in some fashion or another only to see said confessor run away in tears and said object of his own affections return with a rather sour expression.

 

“What, turned down another one?” The jab was always the same, as was the return remark, tired and irritated as it usually was.

 

“I can’t fake what I don’t feel.”

 

It was always a hum that followed, the conversation being dropped instantly to alleviate the pressure that hung after the unwanted confessions. Mikleo was the moon and starlight, a cool embrace on a cloudless night, untouchable. He was well kept together, yet could fall apart with the smallest of prodding. He fell to pieces to Sorey’s mirth, breaking into smiles that the brunet coveted for himself. The physical feeling of him fighting against Sorey’s fingers when they skirted so dangerously across the most ticklish parts of his ribs was an elation that Sorey didn’t want anyone else to experience. It was for him and him alone, and heavens above if he didn’t hate how that selfishness kept creeping up in his dreams after he would bury his nose into the back of Mikleo’s neck with the excuse that his skin was cool to the touch and he was too hot when the smaller complained about the close contact in a sleepy tone that drove the brunet crazy. The way their legs fit together were pieces to a puzzle, perfect alignment until Mikleo whined about Sorey’s cold feet against his calves. More often than not it led to Sorey sliding as far from more intimate contact to something more playful, a diversion tactic to keep his best friend from suspecting anything.

 

He kept praying it worked. Kept praying that Mikleo wouldn’t ask questions to unnecessary things so that he wouldn’t have to offer lies where there shouldn’t be any.

 

Mikleo was of ice, melting to the fire of Sorey’s smile. He was unreachable, yet so easily approachable. There was the serious tone to his voice and diction, surrendered only when the brunet was in sight that eased him into the comfort of Sorey’s laughter. Prying eyes might have seen a spark that was consistently ignited between the ice and fire, yet the comment of it was forbidden. Unspoken even if tangible. Their classmates shared whispers, rumors and questions but none got very far when such words got to the two boys. They were so easily dismissed when emeralds and amethysts met, and just a shrug of their shoulders made the walls of the suspicions come crumbling to the ground.

 

\------

 

The first thing he could remember seeing when he walked into the classroom were striking emerald eyes, a startled expression he wasn’t sure if he was the cause of. He almost wanted to laugh at how surprised the brunet looked, as if someone had just come up behind him and tickled his sides. The stare held for a bit longer than intended, yet there was something captivating about the way the boy’s eyes sparkled when their gazes met. He couldn’t help the smallest smile that spread across his lips, immediately wiped away when he realized it. There was something magnetic about this particular classmate, Mikleo unable to put his finger on the reason as to why he felt so drawn to the brunet.

 

Circling around each other as celestial bodies did, each were careful not to collide with the other while maintaining that closeness that gave them the warmth they coveted. Sorey was the sun, a light to the darkness that Mikleo often found himself within when it came to the shadows of others. He was quiet, snarky when the moment called for it, and knowledgable in subjects that few knew much about. He was grateful for Sorey, who so easily kept up with his pace where others fell short. It was often said he was hard to read, difficult to get along with, yet for what it was worth, Mikleo was someone who many could approach with a reserved ease. His smile was soft, eyes striking and more often than not, they were lingering on that golden sunshine boy who stood at his side.

 

To Mikleo, Sorey was the lingering tune of a violin, matching to the tune of his flute that they played together in the music room after classes when time permitted. The glances between notes, shared smiles as the harmony drifted down the hallways that often drew a crowd of lingering students to the doorway to watch. Sorey could be called many things in Mikleo’s mind: He was  _ glowing _ , his smile infectious. He was the bright sunlight that warmed chilled skin in the early mornings. The studious boy would often use this excuse to keep close during those nights where they remained pressed together in one fashion or another, claiming that Sorey was a heat pack when he was too cold to move away. He prayed that his closest friend never ask questions beyond what was needed, and thankfully, Sorey never did.

 

Where he had once been wary of what had been surrounding him, Sorey had broken those walls to pieces and set fire to the ashes that continued burning within his heart. The flames often exploded warmth into his veins, an effect when that smile so often was directed at him and Mikleo was weak to its aftershocks, melting into grins and playful jabs in tandem. These times were treasured, locked deep within his memories never to be forgotten so long as he lived.

 

The fear of such times coming to an end if Sorey ever came to know of the longing that so fervently prodded from the shadows of the brunet’s sunlight kept Mikleo’s tongue quiet. A longing of keeping the boy to himself only, the second long stares at anyone who wanted Sorey’s attention for too long while pings of jealousy prickled in his stomach were swallowed down with forced laughter when those emerald eyes focused on him to ask what was bothering him.

 

“It’s nothing, really.”

 

For how long could he keep up this lie?

 

\------

 

Each held a reason for the suffocated feelings that sparked between the spaces where their shoulders wouldn’t touch. The heat that built to a boiling point when each refused to look at the other longer than what was absolutely necessary. It was a pain so bittersweet it melted on the tongue when either wanted to say something that could break the entirety of what they had built together. The crescendo of the days where spring bloomed into summer which cooled into fall only to keep the two warm in the winter when they decreased the space between them while claiming it only to be a natural occurrence.

 

It was a torturous dance, both so very careful not to step on the other’s toes when the music of the seasons sped up and the days of school came and went, distance becoming so very evident with each going off in search of their dream. They were so similar in their goals, unwilling to give up in lieu of admitting defeat to the other.

 

The departure that came with the final day of school was met with a mixture of the joy that each so exuberantly shared throughout the time leading up until then along with the suppressed sadness of what they had known all along to come. Their separation was finalized with a promise that they would keep in contact on the daily, always making time to visit or to call when things got too busy. The distance meant so very little to each, as if it weren’t there to begin with, nor would it even begin to fester. As natural as breathing, what came as their meeting came as their parting.

 

The tinge of sadness only began to bubble when they sat so very close to each other on the train ride home, both refusing to look at each other for fear of spilling the emotions that they had both kept quiet for so long. The devotions, longing, the affection that neither could put to actual words threatening to break free they so desperately fought to keep in the cages that had been built over the few years with which they had been developed.

 

If only for a moment, Sorey’s eyes met Mikleo’s, both hesitating just a moment before looking away once again while neither spoke a word. Mikleo could only pray that Sorey didn’t notice the tinge of pink on his cheeks in the setting sun, Sorey hoping for just the same when he felt the heat spread across his temples. With the vehement wish that the beating of their hearts couldn’t be heard over the clanging of the train against the tracks, a vow was made to someday confess the feelings that neither could speak of.

 

One day. When they were stronger. When they knew they wouldn’t be afraid of what happened afterwards.

 

Slowly, without either thinking about it nor speaking of it, their hands slid along the space of the seat between them. Slowly did fingers fit into the spaces between, locking together in a perfect fit. It was almost laughable at how well their hands fit together, so natural in their placement it felt like fate.

 

Not a word was spoken, nor did each look at the other.

 

But Sorey was smiling.

 

Mikleo was smiling.

 

And softly, so softly, did they squeeze each other’s hand.


End file.
